Set against the backdrop of a nation grappling with violent homophobic crime and offering a scathing examination of the underlying hatred for gays rampant in Caribbean societies, Kareem Mortimer’s debut narrative feature tells the stories of three very different individuals: Lena, the conservative, deeply religious wife of a secretly gay firebrand pastor; Romeo, a handsome young black man hiding his sexuality from his close-knit and loving family; and Jonny, the conflicted and creatively-blocked white artist in search of himself. All three head for the spectacularly beautiful and tranquil island of Eleuthera, each with a different reason for escaping current circumstances. Soon, their disparate worlds collide in unexpected and affecting ways.

Anne Lister is a young unmarried woman living in 19th century Yorkshire, with her aunt and uncle. The one thing she wants from life is to have someone to love and to share her life with. The person she has in mind is Mariana Belcombe with whom she has been conducting a secret romantic and sexual relationship. The relationship breaks apart when Mariana marries a rich widower named Charles Lawton. Depressed, Anne devotes her time to studying. A year after Mariana's wedding, Anne begins to think about finding another lover. She meets a young woman in church named Miss Browne, and they become close friends.

Sunday 10 June, 2012Pariah

Dee Rees/ USA/ 2011/ 86 mins/ Drama/ English/ colour

Alike (pronounced ah-lee-kay), is a 17-year-old African-American woman who lives with her parents Audrey and Arthur and younger sister Sharonda in Brooklyn. Alike is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian. With the sometimes boisterous support of her best friend, out lesbian Laura, Alike is especially eager to find a girlfriend. At home, her parents' marriage is strained and there is further tension in the household whenever Alike's development becomes a topic of discussion. Pressed by her mother into making the acquaintance of a colleague's daughter, Bina, Alike finds Bina to be unexpectedly refreshing to socialize with. Wondering how much she can confide in her family, Alike strives to get through adolescence with grace, humor, and tenacity - sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, but always moving forward.

A highly personal take on the challenges facing Black lesbians in South Africa today emerges through the life, work, friends and associates of 'visual activist' and internationally celebrated photographer, Zanele Muholi. The documentary looks at the experiences of South Africa’s black lesbian community, and how they have had to live under the threat of violence and corrective rape.

SASOD THANKS Zanele Muholi FOR THE CONTRIBUTION OF THIS FILM and the anonymous donor who brought it to Guyana. A collection will be made for a donation to Zanele Muholi who suffered a massive theft of her equipment recently.

I Am chronicles the journey of an Indian lesbian filmmaker who
returns to Delhi, eleven years later, to re-open what was once home, and
finally confronts the loss of her mother whom she never came out to. As
she meets and speaks to parents of other gay and lesbian Indians, she
pieces together the fabric of what family truly means, in a landscape
where being gay was until recently a criminal and punishable offense.

SASOD THANKS Sonali Gulati FOR THE CONTRIBUTION OF THIS FILM and the anonymous donor who brought it to Guyana.

A family moves into a new neighborhood, and a 10-year-old named Laure deliberately presents herself as a boy named Mikhael to the neighborhood children. It is heavily implied that Mikhael is a closeted transgender boy. This film follows his experiences with his newfound friends, his potential love interest, Lisa, his younger sister and his parents. It focuses in on the significance of gender identity in social interaction from an early age, the difficulties of being transgender and young, and how Mikhael navigates these in the background of childhood play and love.

The film is structured as a series of interconnected flashbacks. Shortly after the death of his son’s mother, Hal came out as gay to his son, Oliver, and began exploring that aspect of his life. Hal finds a boyfriend, Andy, and surrounds himself with a circle of gay friends. Hal is then diagnosed with terminal cancer. The film stars Christopher Plummer who won an Academy Award for his role.

Monday 18 June, 2012

Someone Like You (Chutney Edit)

Andil Gosine/ Canada/ 2005/ 6 mins/ Short / English/ colour

In Andil Gosine's first short - completed in 2005 but held back from
circulation until now - a kitchen worker finds escape from broken
immigrant dreams in the magic of a flower seller

Faybien Allan has it all going on; he's young, stylish, and knows the importance of being seen with hip friends at NYC's trendiest spots. But beneath the sparkle of his nightlife and his stunning good-looks, is a man buckling under his father's homophobia. Filled with self-loathing and desperate for direction, he meanders through life until meeting Lonnie, a confident activist with a flirtatious smile. However, despite their obvious chemistry and fireworks in bed, Faybien's insecurities have him looking for the door. Can a budding romance and a few good friends keep him from making the biggest mistake of his life?

A wealthy Iranian family struggles to contain a teenager's growing sexual rebellion and her brother's dangerous obsession. Atafeh and her brother, Mehran, have grown up privileged, in a home filled with music, art, and intellectual curiosity. Atafeh dreams of fame and adventure, and she and her best friend, Shireen, explore Tehran's underground scene with youthful exuberance and determination to be themselves. Meanwhile, her brother returns home from drug rehab, renounces his former decadent life, and replaces his once obsessive practice of classical music with more destructive pursuits.

I AM consists of four short films- ‘Omar’, ‘Afia’, ‘Abhimanyu’, and ‘Megha’ with interwoven characters. Based on real life stories, the films explore such themes as child abuse and same-sex relationships. I AM AFIA is the story of a single woman who feels her identity will be made whole through the singular feminine experience of motherhood. I AM MEGHA is a story of two friends – a Kashmiri Pandit woman and a Muslim woman – separated by conflict. I AM ABHIMANYU is the story of a broken man, Abhimanyu, who is trapped by the demons of his past of sexual abuse. To move forward he must first go back, into a world where his childhood was stolen from him. I AM OMAR is a horrific tale of sexual discrimination, blackmail and prejudice. It reveals how the police use Article 377 (law under Indian Penal code which criminalizes homosexuality) to harass and blackmail gay men. The cast includes Juhi Chawla, Manisha Koraila, Rahul Bose, Nandita Das, Arjun Mathur and Abhimanyu Singh. The film received the Best Hindi Film at India's 59th National Film Awards ceremony.

This movie is based on the real life story of Parinya Charoenphol, a Muaythai boxer who underwent a sex change operation to become a woman. It chronicles her life from a young boy who likes to wear lipstick and wear flowers to her sensational career as kickboxer whose specialty is ancient Muaythai boxing moves, and finally her confrontation with her own sexuality which led to her sex change operation

Tuesday 26 June, 2012 Albert Nobbs

Rodrigo García/ UK, Ireland/ 2011/ 114 mins/ Drama/ English/ colour

Albert Nobbs is a woman living as a man in order to find work in the harsh environment of late 19th-century working class Ireland, where women aren't encouraged to be independent. After living as a male for thirty years, Albert's steadfast life is shaken by the sudden arrival of Hubert Page, a house painter. Albert is shocked that Hubert is to room with him while he works at the hotel. On their first night, Hubert discovers Albert's secret, but promises never to reveal it, much to Albert's relief. The next day, Hubert confesses he is also a woman. Hubert leaves soon after, but not before telling Albert that 'he' has a wife

Sunday 01 July, 2012

Weekend

Andrew Haigh/ UK/ 2011/ 97mins/ Drama, Romance/ English/ colour

After a drunken house party with his straight mates, Russell heads out to a gay club. Just before closing time he picks up Glen but what's expected to be just a one-night stand becomes something else, something special. That weekend, in bars and in bedrooms, getting drunk and taking drugs, telling stories and having sex, the two men get to know each other. It is a brief encounter that will resonate throughout their lives

Monday 02 July, 2012

SPECTRUM CELEBRATION!!!!

Poetry, singing, talking, dancing

Tuesday 03 July, 2012

Two films...

The Kids are all right

Lisa Cholodenko/ USA/ 2010/ 106 mins/ Comedy, Drama/ English/ colour

Nic and Jules are a married lesbian couple living in California. They have each given birth to a child using the same sperm donor. Nic, an obstetrician, is the primary breadwinner and the stricter parent, while Jules, a housewife who is starting up a landscape design business, is more laid back. The younger child Laser wants to find his sperm donor but has to be 18 to do so. He begs his 18-year-old sister Joni to contact the sperm bank and determines that Paul is the donor. The three meet and much drama ensues.

KickoffRikki Beadle-Blair/UK/2010/90 minutes/ Comedy/ English/ colour

What happens when the hardest team in the Sunday Soccer league comes up
against a gay team (pun intended) and finds they've finally met their
match? Watch and wince as fledging referee Elton Glixton struggles to
control this testosterone tsunami as rude-boy meets bum-boy in this
outrageous new comedy set in the crazy gung-ho world of 5-a-side footie

Text of article published in the Weekend Mirror of 27 May, 2012
More than fifty years ago the United Kingdom gave recognition to a reality that had existed for
centuries or even millennia. It decriminalized homosexual acts by repealing legislation which
made these acts illegal by providing that consenting adults are not guilty for such acts done in
private. Such legislation, inherited from our colonial masters, who repealed them fifty years ago,
is still on our books.

President Obama has now announced support for marriage between persons of the same sex.
It was big news in the United States. The idea was not new because several states in the US,
including New York, had already changed their laws to allow same sex marriage. But it is the
first time a President has endorsed same sex marriage. It is likely to be a controversial campaign
issue in the US elections in November because social conservatism is strong in the US. But
President Obama must have felt politically safe in coming out in support of same sex marriage
because, despite conservative opposition, the issue has attracted the support of a majority of
Americans.

In Guyana a march was held recently, sponsored by SASOD, to activate support for the abolition
of discriminatory laws against homosexuals. These laws are archaic and should no longer be on
our statute books. Homosexuality and lesbianism are now recognized as alternative lifestyles
and people should be free to conduct themselves as they see fit providing they do not harm
others. This is what they have been doing in developed countries. While the fact that
discriminatory laws have been repealed fifty and more years ago and rights for the LGBT
(lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders) community have been given increased recognition
and protection in developed countries ought to be no inspiration for us, nevertheless the time
has come for us to consider at least the repeal of archaic and discriminatory laws.

Homosexuality and lesbianism are as normal to the adherents of this lifestyle as heterosexuality
is normal for the majority of people who are practicing heterosexuals. They do not see
themselves as ‘ill’ or as having a ‘condition’ that ought to be ‘cured’ by counseling or some
other similar means. There are homosexuals and lesbians of every age, every race, every
religion and every political opinion. They are normal, regular people who would, like all of us,
like to live their lives in peace and harmony with themselves and the rest of the world. Our
society does not permit them to ‘come out’ and say so. I therefore say these things on their
behalf, assuming even if arrogantly, that I have their permission to do so.

The continuation of discriminatory practices harms our society and criminalises people in our
midst who chose to live differently from the majority but nevertheless make as good a
contribution to society as anyone else. It is time to bring this matter from out of the shadows.

Unfortunately Guyana and the rest of our Caribbean societies are deeply conservative on social
issues. But I am not going as far on this occasion as asking for approval of same sex marriage.
While I support it, I hardly believe that either our people or our Government, and indeed even

our Opposition, will want to accommodate that issue at this time. Not that I believe that there
is anything close to majority support for it. Also, it is hardly likely that much support would be
forthcoming any time soon from the public for the repeal of legislation which is discriminatory
and archaic. The march attracted only six people.

Our recent experience during the constitutional reform process demonstrates the depth of
conservative opinion on these matters. A proposal to include an article in the constitution
against discrimination based on sexual orientation was proposed, accepted and unanimously
passed in the National Assembly. Only after it was passed that some churches picked up on it. A
crescendo of opposition then developed. The President, no doubt influenced by this opposition,
did not sign it into law. It was returned to the National Assembly for debate.

Both Government and Opposition, in weak kneed genuflection to so called popular opinion,
changed their positions and voted against the measure. These groups merely reflected the
prevailing mood of hostility to any kind of liberal view of these matters even though whether or
not the measure was in place would have mattered little. In Canada the Supreme Court upheld
the right of two men to get married on the basis of provisions in its Bill of Rights which are very
much similar to our fundamental rights provisions. If our courts were to follow the Canadian
Supreme Court then it would hold that two persons of the same sex have the right to get
married.

Having regard to this situation it is incumbent on the Government and Opposition to boldly lead
public opinion in this matter. Our society should be liberal in outlook and socially progressive in
character. We must lead the way in the Caribbean region and lead the way in dispensing with
the outdated notion that heterosexuality is the basic premise of masculinity for the male and
femininity for the woman Negative social attitudes should be combated even if they are
popular. And where conditions exist making it is possible to do so, as in Guyana, it ought to be
done.

Discrimination has no place in Guyana. The LGBT community is crying out for recognition and
an end to ridicule, violence and discrimination.

The American actor, Sean Penn, once told a story of his visit with Fidel Castro. He had his young
children with him. His young daughter was particularly peeved at the homophobia that existed
in Cuba. Fidel had figured that something was troubling her. When it was her turn to speak he
turned to her and asked perceptively: “Now what is troubling you young lady.” She explained
her concern. He pointed out that the Cuban Administration was not homophobic, nor did it
encourage homophobia, but that homophobia existed long before the Revolution. He admitted
that the Administration erred in not doing anything about it earlier but that they intended to
correct their position. So should Guyana.

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About SASOD

The Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) is a human rights organisation and movement dedicated to achieving equality and justice for all Guyanese, especially those suffering discrimination based on their sexuality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. We support similar work in Latin America and the Caribbean, Americas, Commonwealth, Global South and worldwide.